Atlanta arrives at camp with a different face of the franchise, a deeper perimeter rotation and a clear challenge for Jalen Johnson: turn last spring’s disappointment into the next step of a team that believes it can stay in the playoff mix.
Trae Young and 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher are no longer part of the picture. The Hawks instead are leaning into Johnson’s rise, a 46-win season that ended a three-year playoff absence, and an offseason that stocked Quin Snyder’s roster with defense, championship experience and lineup options.
“You have to keep building and evolving,” Snyder said.
How Atlanta reached this version of the roster
- Johnson made his first All-Star team in 2025-26, taking on the central role after Young’s departure. The 24-year-old averaged more than 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while guiding Atlanta to a 20-6 mark after the All-Star break.
- The Hawks reached the postseason but let a 2-1 series edge slip against the eventual champion New York Knicks. Johnson had stretches in the first-round exit when he did not impose himself offensively, with CJ McCollum handling many of the biggest possessions.
- Atlanta added Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins from Oklahoma City, importing two players from the Thunder’s 2025 title team. Nickeil Alexander-Walker joins them to give Snyder another high-level wing stopper.
- The frontcourt took a hit when second-round pick Henri Veesaar, a 7-footer, suffered a knee injury in offseason workouts that will keep him out for the year.
Johnson owns the next lesson
Johnson did not duck the film or the feeling from the Knicks series. He said the playoff loss supplied lessons on both ends of the floor, even if revisiting it was difficult. His stated standard is bigger than simply returning to the bracket: he wants championships, and he knows the postseason is where a lead player has to be at his sharpest.
That is the assignment now. Johnson is entering his sixth NBA season after beginning his climb in the G League, and Atlanta is counting on him to pair his regular-season production with a more forceful postseason presence.
McCollum remains a significant veteran option, but the roster construction points toward Johnson as the player who has to set the nightly temperature.
Dort and Daniels can change the defensive menu
The Hawks may be able to put two All-Defensive first-team guards on the floor at once in Dyson Daniels and Dort. Daniels led the league in steals in 2025 and finished second last season. Dort earned first-team All-Defensive recognition in 2025 and came to Atlanta after routinely drawing Oklahoma City’s hardest perimeter assignment.
Daniels also made second team last season, and the pairing gives Snyder unusual freedom in late-clock and matchup situations. One can take the primary creator, the other can work on the opponent’s next-best scorer, and switching becomes less of a pressure point when neither defender offers an easy target.
Johnson described the coming choices for opposing scorers simply: “Pick your poison.”
Alexander-Walker adds a third disruptive perimeter defender. He knows Dort well from their Canadian national-team connection, and said Dort does not retreat from a challenge. In Alexander-Walker’s view, an opponent’s top player understands before tip-off that Dort will make every possession physical and demanding.
Dort said he is eager to study Daniels’ game, while also believing the two can teach each other.
Championship habits enter a young locker room
Dort and Wiggins bring more than perimeter size and depth. They were important contributors during Oklahoma City’s 2025 championship run, an experience Atlanta’s mostly young group did not have last season.
Snyder said players who have lived through a championship-building process give teammates a resource they can draw from, and that history was part of why the Hawks pursued them.
Wiggins averaged 12 points in 23 minutes as a key reserve during his strongest Thunder season, then saw his numbers fall in most areas in 2025-26. Atlanta believes the 27-year-old can regain that form. Dort, also 27, had a down year mainly as a shooter, though his defensive value remained central.
Dort said the plan is to carry Oklahoma City’s approach into the new room. He called Atlanta’s talent and upside evident, adding that he is not naturally loud but means what he says when he speaks.
Wiggins sees similarities to his second and third seasons with the Thunder: a hungry young group, energy around improvement and a shared desire to win. He believes that approach can spread through a locker room.
Rotation depth, with one large question
Snyder has the personnel to work with nine or perhaps 10 players on a given night. The Hawks expect to be stronger physically, more versatile offensively and much better equipped to defend the ball across the backcourt and wing spots.
The center rotation is less settled. Onyeka Okongwu, listed at 6-foot-10, is still positioned to take the bulk of the minutes after Veesaar’s injury removed a developmental 7-footer from the mix.
Snyder framed the issue as more than traditional shot blocking. Rim protection matters, he said, but preventing opponents from reaching the paint can matter just as much. That places extra value on the Daniels-Dort-Alexander-Walker group containing drives before they reach Okongwu.
Atlanta has also been linked to Detroit center Jalen Duren, who had not reported to Pistons camp while awaiting a contract agreement. No move has been completed.
Cap room keeps the Hawks active
Personnel chief Saleh took over the front-office role one summer ago with the aim of keeping Atlanta ready for different outcomes, whether they arrive in a matchup, on the trade market or in a contract negotiation.
That flexibility shows up on the floor and on the books. Dort, McCollum and Jock Landale are on expiring deals. No Hawk is making more than $30 million annually, and the club sits comfortably below the apron line.
That gives Atlanta room to adjust before the trade deadline and even more ability to absorb salary next summer. Saleh said the organization believes it improved and expects to be highly competitive this season.
The early identity is clear enough: Johnson at the center, pressure defense around him, experienced voices in the rotation and enough optionality for Snyder to reshape the group depending on the opponent. The next question is whether that new depth can carry the Hawks beyond the first-round frustration that still hangs over camp.
